The 4-H USDA Robotics Digital Badges initiative is a collaborative badging effort between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 4-H National Headquarters/USDA, and Auburn University. Over the course of badge system development, Auburn University focused on the project’s technical side, while University of Nebraska-Lincoln played a role in developing assessments and curriculum. 4-H described, “The Nebraska faculty has developed an outstanding suite of robotics learning experiences supported through almost $5 million in grants from the National Science Foundation (#ESI-0624591 and DRL-0833403), the NASA Summer of Innovation, and 4-H. These learning experiences will serve as the core content for the 4-H Robotics digital badging system for youth ages 9 to 18.

Preface The information contained in this project appendix was gathered from the original project proposal that was funded in 2012 and interviews with project leaders through the end of 2014. This appendix and the overall design principles database from the…

Design for America (DFA) is an interdisciplinary network of university students and community members. The project aims to create local and social impact by using the needs of the community members to guide design and interaction within the system. This Human Centered Design (HCD) approach allows the project to have a broad focus on design, while creating learning opportunities that meet specific needs of users within that broader domain. Students in the program have developed designs to conserve energy, reduce the potential of acquiring infections in hospitals, and promote reading literacy, among other topics. Founded at Northwestern University in 2009, Design for America has since expanded to other universities across the country. Currently, several studios of student teams are located nationwide, operating as extracurricular programs.

Intel and the Society for Science and the Public (SSP) partnered together in an effort to design a badge system that would recognize the accomplishments of middle and high school students worldwide. Specifically, the project awards badges to students for their achievements in scientific research and participation in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (Intel ISEF) and Intel Science Talent Search (Intel STS) educational programs.

Preface The information contained in this project appendix was gathered from the original project proposal that was funded in 2012 and interviews with project leaders through the end of 2014. This appendix and the overall design principles database from the…

MOUSE offers opportunities for youth to develop skills and dispositions that can translate into the workplace and apply across professional settings. The program trains youth to join teams of help desk experts who provide technology support during the school day. This offers an environment that mirrors the workplace and enables students to gain practical experience. In school, youth receive the opportunity to lead in the field of technology, cultivating skills, and strengthening identities as valued contributors in technology-driven environments, in preparation for the careers and workplace that they would eventually enter. MOUSE explains that their “goal has always been to capture the milestones that emerge along the way as points of reflection (and as wayfinding devices) that empower the user to pursue pathways forward and demonstrate their expertise in learning and professional contexts where not enough of their experiences are being counted” (HASTAC MOUSE Q&A). By introducing youth to communities of practice, MOUSE enables them to gain exposure and develop their skills and teamwork in an age-appropriate professional work setting. The program extends students’ experience after school by connecting them with a peer community with shared interestsy support during the school day. This offers an environment that mirrors the workplace and enables students to gain practical experience.

The digital badge initiative “My Girl Scout Sash is an App” was developed as part of a collaboration between Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana (GSGCNWI), MentorMob, and the Motorola Mobility Foundation. The initiative enables participants to gain skills in mobile app development. The project introduced a new digital sash from which girl scouts can add badges. Through its badging program, Girl Scouts has provided a long-standing tradition of career development and leadership. Girl Scouts Chief Development Officer, Bryn Reese, described, “

Preface The information contained in this project appendix was gathered from the original project proposal that was funded in 2012 and interviews with project leaders through the end of 2014. This appendix and the overall design principles database from the…

The Providence After School Alliance (PASA) partners with after school and extracurricular programs to offer quality learning experiences to middle and high school students. In their DML Proposal, PASA described their mission “to expand and improve quality afterschool, summer, and other expanded learning opportunities for the youth of Providence by organizing a sustainable public/private system that contributes to student success and serves as a national model” (Stage 1 DML Proposal). Specifically, PASA supports the operations and infrastructure of the local AfterZone network of organizations that administer learning experiences to middle school student and a similar network of organizations offering programs to high schoolers that includes a social and discovery-based website called The Hub.

Student Reporting Labs is a educational program offered by PBS News Hour in which participating high school teachers offer their students the opportunity to write and record a story about their community with the chance of getting it broadcast on local or national television.

Regardless of where you start, it’s more than likely you’ll end up somewhere other than your intended destination. That’s okay. Systems are living things, and your badge system needs to be flexible. You must embrace a bit of chaos in its design.
-Carla Casilli, Director of Design + Practice at the Badge Alliance